Chapter 13: The Return Trip

Nimbrethil was standing watch over the camp, listening to the snores of the others and trying not to laugh. Khelgar sounded like a wounded beast and Shandra sounded like some kind of whistling bird. The only one not snoring was Casavir because he had yet to go to sleep. He always stayed awake for a bit while she was on watch and she would often feel his gaze on her although why that was she never bothered to ask. Bishop took every opportunity to taunt Casavir and the man just couldn't ignore him. The worst one had been earlier this evening when he had objected to Bishop and her sparring again. He had told the ranger to be careful and Bishop had told him to butt out, and it wasn't long before she had lost her temper and threatened to leave them to fend for themselves. She certainly didn't need them now and she wasn't going to put up with stupid male foolishness. As she stood leaning against a tree she caught a now familiar scent just in front of her.

"I know you're there Bishop," she called softly and then watched as the ranger left the shadow of the trees where he had been watching her from. It irked him that he'd only been there for about a minute before she called out to him.

"You're a little more alert these days elf," Bishop smirked at her, hiding his chagrin at being caught.

"Well that's because I've learned to recognize your scent and the wind happens to be blowing towards me," Nimbrethil smiled slyly. "One would think that a ranger of your talents would know enough to approach downwind from someone. Looks like you're getting a little careless."

Bishop ground his teeth at the smug tone in her voice. Damn she had a way of getting under his skin and catching him off guard. He wasn't used to someone giving him sass like she did, and that superior air of hers was hard to swallow sometimes, even though she had good reason to be smug. He had known other elven rangers and none of them had been as good as her. Before he could say anything, she spoke up again.

"Was there something in particular you wanted? Because if not then I suggest you go get some sleep," Nimbrethil told him. "Lack of sleep must be the reason you messed up, or maybe it's incompetence?" She tried not to laugh as she saw her verbal barb hit home.

With a low snarl of anger Bishop stepped forward until he was towering over her, his eyes flashing with malevolence. To his surpise her green eyes locked with his and she showed no fear of him, though most who saw him like this would be shaking in their boots. He had to wonder if Duncan had told her anything about his past. Certainly if she knew anything she would be afraid of him, but then again maybe not. She was tough, a survivor and could certainly hold her own against him. "I would watch my tongue elf if you know what's good for you," he growled low, his voice barely above a whisper.

Nimbrethil looked up at the man before her and knew that his bark was worse than his bite. After some conversation with Karnwyr when Bishop wasn't watching, she had come to realize that his nastiness was a defense mechanism to keep people from getting too close to him. She knew he was a survivor and if anything threatened him then he would be a most ruthless and dangerous opponent. Other than that he was not as dangerous as he liked to pretend to be.

"Hah, if that's supposed to scare me then you're out of luck," Nimbrethil growled back, keeping her voice low as well. She watched as a bunch of emotions ran across his face from suprise to anger to disdain. He suddenly turned around and strode off into the woods again muttering under his breath and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at him. She leaned back against the tree and resumed her watch pleased at having gotten the better of him again.

Bishop was fuming as he stalked away from her and scowled as he realized that once again she had gotten the last word in. Damn elf was getting the better of him and that never happened. He was always the one who sent others running, not the other way around. Suddenly he paused as he heard a chuckle in his mind and looking around saw Karnwyr watching him with what looked like a stupid grin on his face, if that was possible. "What's so funny?" he snarled at his companion.

Karnwyr's thoughts swirled through his head. "Elf get better of you, that not happen ever. Very funny." The dire wolf walked over to rub against the ranger. "You like her and I like her. We stay with her?"

Bishop absently scratched behind the animal's ears as he called up a mental picture of the elf and their previous encounters. He had been with women who were more physically beautiful than her, but none of them had stirred him the way she did. He had seen her body and despite being slight she had generous curves in all the right places and all her muscles were well toned. Not only that, she was a creature of the wilds, just like him, and that appealed to him more than anything else. He had to wonder if she was wild in bed and what that might be like. If she made love with the same fierceness with which she fought then damn that would be worth sticking around for. "Yeah, we'll stick around for a while," he answered his companion before heading back towards the camp to get some sleep.

******

The next morning Nimbrethil woke to laughing voices and looking around saw that Kehlgar and Shandra were cooking breakfast while the dwarf regaled the farmer with some story about his past adventures in bars. Listening closely she realized he was retelling the story of the monks which was the reason he had come to Neverwinter. Stretching slightly she sat up and went to sit at the fire across from them. Looking around she didn't see Bishop or Casavir and hoped the two men weren't bothering each other. She sighed as she realized that they would probably reach Neverwinter by that evening and wasn't looking forward to it.

"You don't look too chipper this morning lass," Khelgar commented absently as he stirred the porridge he was cooking.

"We'll soon be back in the city and you know how much I love being there," Nimbrethil sneered.

"Don't see as you've got much choice but to go back, you won't find any answers out here that's for sure," the dwarf said in sympathy. He too didn't care much for the noise and crowded streets of the city.

"I spent most of my life on a farm so I can't say I'm too familiar with Neverwinter," Shandra spoke up. "I've only visited there a few times to buy things I couldn't get in Highcliff. The city didn't seem all that bad when I was there."

"There are many nice parks in the city, as well as various churches and markets sprinkled throughout," Casavir said as he came out of the woods and sat down. Nimbrethil figured he must have been taking care of personal business.

"That's all well and good if you're a merchant or a member of the nobility, otherwise it just plain sucks to live there," Bishop chimed in from behind her, his voice openly contmeptuous.

Seeing a dangerous light in Casavir's eyes and the way his lips pressed together, Nimbrethil spoke quickly hoping to head off yet another snarling match between the two men. "I for one much prefer the clean air and open spaces of the forests and the lands around the city. Unfortunately, Khelgar pointed out that the answers I seek won't be found out here. So I guess I'll just have to put up with the noise and the smell for a little longer."

"I don't know if I'll be able to help you find the answers you're looking for, but I'll try my best," Shandra gave the elf a small smile and saw her nod slightly in return.

"Well we'll just have to take things one step at a time, but the first thing I want to do is corner Duncan. He knows something about these shards, I could tell from the way his eyes refused to meet mine when we talked about them that first day." Nimbrethil stared into the fire as Khelgar announced breakfast was ready and started scooping out the porridge into bowls and passing them out. "I won't let him dodge the issue anymore. He'll be easier to pry the information out of than Daeghan would be and he's closer by far."

"I would have thought that your foster father would have told you about it," Shandra pointed out.

"Daeghan plays things close to the vest and he never wanted to talk about that night. I know it still pains him to this day," Nimbrethil said softly. "You see, elves live for centuries and unlike humans our memories don't fade with time. No matter how much time passes, the pains and joys of life that we experience stay with us as clearly as the day they occured. I am sure that I was a constant reminder to him of what he lost."

"Do you remember anything about that night? I know you were pretty young when it happened," Shandra asked.

"My memories of my mother singing to me and playing with me are clear but that's all," Nimbrethil sighed as she tried to once again picture her mother's face but could only get a fuzzy image. "Either I was too young to comprehend the events or the trauma of it is blocking the memory of that night. I can't even call up a clear image of my mother's face."

"Maybe the memories will come back to you someday," Khelgar said cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood around the fire.

"I'm not sure I want to remember anything. Look at how it affected Daeghan," Nimbrethil finished her breakfast and stood up stretching, peering up at the sky. She sniffed the air and frowned. "We should get going soon for I think there's a storm headed our way." Picking up the utensils she strode towards the small stream to wash them while the others started packing up their things.

Bishop watched her go and could tell that the subject bothered her alot even though her face and voice had been expressionless. He saw it in the tensed muscles of her shoulders and the stiffness in her walk. His own memories of childhood were horrors that he had worked hard at forgetting but they still sometimes haunted his sleeep. He hoped she never remembered for he didn't want to see her unhappy although he didn't know why he felt that way. Face it buddy, you're doing alot of things different since she walked into the Flagon a few months ago. That thought bothered him too much so he pushed it from his mind. It didn't pay to dwell on things like that, it was safer to take things one day at a time and live for the moment. When she had returned and put away the gear, he picked up his stuff and fell into step beside her, noticing again how the paladin glared at him. It was obvious to him the man was sweet on her but she either didn't know or didn't care. This thought cheered him up and he couldn't keep a wolfish smile off his face as he looked back at the man.

Nimbrethil, lost in her thoughts, didn't notice the exchange between the two but Shandra did. She didn't like the ranger because she felt that he was a pig, but obviously Nimbrethil saw something in him. She had tried to get Casavir to talk to her for she found him to be extremely attractive, but too often his gaze was fixed on the elf. Nimbrethil was always annoyed when the two fought, but obviously had no clue as to why they fought. She debated whether or not to say anything the next time she was alone with her. Then she remembered Khelgar's words from a couple days ago and knew she would have to wait for the elf to open up to her a bit more. Sighing she hoped when they finally got to talk that it wouldn't be too late.